Monday, April 18, 2016

Sounds a bit like a riddle, but really I am so hesitant to waste warp and so it's really one of my favorite ways to work. Of course it's intriguing to see how it all fits together on the loom, a bit like a jigsaw puzzle, but the cut off is SO much fun.

Perhaps it's just because I've spent so long on the piece for the church. Cutting off this new crop felt so good, especially as I had started this at Sievers last fall. A loom is vacant!

Particularly interesting were these two - I was trying out some aluminum coated wire I acquired, the result of another art teacher trying to clean out their room. I sympathize.

This spool is huge! And has a label saying it originally came from Milan, so it has to be cool. It's a warm silvery color and I'm going to try it with a couple landscape ideas I have.

Sunday, April 3, 2016

Now that The Big Tapestry is ready to hang on April 25 and my living room begins to look like a living room once again, it's time to challenge myself with some new faces.

I believe I have mentioned I've worked hard to increase my skills in drawing people on location. One of the pluses of substituting (there are some) is the availability of models, this time I deferred to another favorite, myself. I had ten pages of a sketchbook left and decided to dedicate them to self portrait drawings.

These sketches were done over several weeks, most when I was in bed after a long day using a wall hung mirror leaning against the wall. I usually use ink pen but occasionally crayon, anything I'm not tempted to erase. Actually it's been so long my practice that I really don't think of erasing anymore, just finish as is and move on to another sketch.

I notice this persistence of drawing has improved my decision making in tapestry weaving. I don't like cartoons and prefer to use them as a guide that sits off to the side. I rely on intuitive choices so the more I understand the face the better they are.

Where is this leading? Hopefully to a self portrait that is part of three wedge woven (or partly wedge woven) portraits I'm working on. Can I get these done in time to show my friend Connie Lippert at Convergence in Milwaukee this summer? I'll let you know.